DOWNEY - The Warren High School boys' soccer team is going to play in the C.I.F. Division II championship game.The game will be played tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. at Warren High School. The Bears finished last season with a disappointing quarterfinal round 1-0 loss to Palmdale after being the top seed in the Division III playoffs and ranked number one in the Division III poll for three weeks. Coach Pena and his team are hoping for a different result this year. The Bears finished their regular season with an overall record of 6-7-6 and a league record of 4-2-4. The Bears entered this year's Division II playoffs as the number three team from the San Gabriel Valley League behind Paramount and Lynwood, respectively. The Bears are certainly playing their best soccer, right now, when it matters most. The Bears current record now stands at 10-7-6, but more importantly, are 4-0 in their last four. The Bears started their run as S.G.V.L. play came to a close. A 2-1 win over Paramount at Warren on Feb. 4 and a victory over Gahr two days later gave the Bears a nice boost going into the playoffs. The Bears defeated Fullerton at Fullerton 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs and then defeated Segerstrom at Warren 3-1 in the second round. Warren then defeated Alta Loma 2-1 in the quarterfinals and Corona at Corona 2-1 on Tuesday in the semifinals to advance to the C.I.F. Division II championship game. The Bears will be playing Loara High School of Anahein in the championship game. Loara defeated Los Osos 3-1 in the first round, La Quinta 2-1 in the second round, Santiago 1-0 in the quarterfinals and Royal 1-0 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. Interestingly, three-time defending C.I.F. and state champion Paramount was defeated in the quarterfinal round by the same Corona team that Warren defeated 2-1 on Tuesday. The championship game should be exciting as Warren will be playing on their home field.

********** Published: February 28, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 46